KR102202035B1 - Auto-Probe Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an auto probe device including: a base portion (2) longitudinally disposed so as to follow at least one side of an inspection object; a reciprocating portion (3) installed on the base portion (2) so as to longitudinally reciprocate; a movable connecting portion (4) electrically connected to an external power supply and a control device (C) with the reciprocating portion (3) movable on the base portion (2); an elevating portion (5) installed on the tip side of the reciprocating portion (3) so as to be capable of moving upward and downward; a probe unit (6) inspecting the inspection object and transmitting a measurement signal measured as a result of the inspection to a control device; and a main body portion (7) controlling the movement of the reciprocating portion (3) and the elevating portion (5) in accordance with a control signal inputted through the movable connecting portion (4) from the control device. The movable connecting portion supports the reciprocating portion on the base portion so as to be capable of reciprocating longitudinally. The main body portion on the reciprocating portion can be electrically connected to the external control device by the movable connecting portion. The wire which interconnects the control device and the main body can be connected to the rail block that is positioned at an end of the base portion. Therefore, the reciprocation of the reciprocating portion for inspection can be smoothly performed without concerns over interference with the wire.

Description

Auto-Probe Apparatus}

The present invention relates to an auto probe device, and more particularly, in inspecting an object such as an LCD panel with a plurality of probes, a reciprocating unit supporting the probe unit reciprocates while maintaining electrical connection with the base unit through a movable connection unit. The present invention relates to an auto probe device having a movable connection and capable of transmitting a control signal from an external control device to a main body through a movable connection.

In manufacturing LCDs that are widely used as displays of TVs and computers, it has become an essential process to inspect various defects or errors that may occur throughout the manufacturing process.

In order to quickly inspect a large amount of LCD, an auto-probe-type inspection device has been proposed, and an example thereof is a multi-probe inspection machine disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1958206.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tester includes a base block 110, a moving block 130, a horizontal moving part 170, and a vertical moving part 180, and 20 or more contact blocks ( Since 150 is moved to the correct inspection position and aligned by the operation of the horizontal moving unit 180 installed in each moving block 130, it is possible to align all of the plurality of contact blocks 150 to the correct position.

However, in this process, the contact block 150 moves the position according to the control signal transmitted from the externally installed control unit. For this purpose, the contact block 150 is transmitted to the connection block 114 of the base block 110. The cable (C) is installed long in the longitudinal direction to transmit the electrical signal to the control unit of the tester.

As described above, in the conventional probe tester, the cable C is long installed on the connection block 114 in order to transmit the signal measured by the contact block 150 to the control unit of the tester. Although expressed, the cable (C) is located long along the base block (110) and moves together with the connection block (114), thus causing interference with the rail block (112) or the connection groove (112a), and their operation There was a problem of deteriorating the performance of the entire device by interfering with it.

In addition, the cable (C) may be damaged if the above interference with the rail block 112 or the connection block 114 is left unattended, and this may lead to a failure of the entire device.

In addition, in order to prevent the performance deterioration or damage as described above, the cable (C) must be arranged, but this work is also very cumbersome and inconvenient, so there is a problem of lowering the efficiency of the inspection work.

KR 10-1958206

The present invention has been proposed to solve the problem of the conventional multi-probe tester as described above, and supports the reciprocating part supported by the probe so as to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction on the base part, and at the same time, the probe part for the object to be inspected By allowing the test result to be transmitted from the main body to the control device outside the device through the reciprocating part and the movable connection part, the wire connected to the control device is connected to the rail block at the end of the base part. It can be connected, and it is possible to smoothly move the reciprocating part for inspection without having to worry about interference with the electric wire, and the purpose of this is to further improve the inspection performance of the device.

In addition, as above, by stably maintaining the coupling of the movable connection part that allows the reciprocating part to be movably mounted on the base part while maintaining the electrical connection to the base part, as well as the inspection performance for the inspection object, There is another purpose to further improve work efficiency.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a base portion disposed in a longitudinal direction along at least one side of an object to be inspected; A reciprocating part installed on the base part to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction; A movable connection unit installed on the reciprocating unit to be electrically connected to an external power source and a control device while the reciprocating unit is movable on the base unit; An elevating part installed to be movable up and down on the front end of the reciprocating part; A probe unit mounted on one side of the lifting unit to inspect the inspection object and transmit a measurement signal measured by the inspection to a control device; And a main body installed on the reciprocating part and controlling movement of the reciprocating part and the elevating part according to a control signal input from the control device through the movable connection part.

In addition, it is preferable that the movable connection unit transmits a control signal applied from the control device to the main body through a rail block and a connection terminal assembly slidably coupled to the rail block.

According to the auto-probe apparatus of the present invention, since the movable connection part is disposed at the boundary of the base part and the reciprocating part that moves the probe part in contact with the test object back and forth along the test target, the reciprocating part can be reciprocated on the base part in the longitudinal direction. While supporting, it is possible to electrically connect the body part on the reciprocating part and the external control device by the movable connection part. Accordingly, the wire connecting the control device and the movable connection part can be connected to the rail block located at the end of the base part, so that the reciprocating part for inspection can be smoothly moved without worrying about interference with the wire. It is possible to increase inspection performance and further improve inspection convenience.

In addition, as above, the combination of the rail block and the connection terminal assembly of the movable connecting part that mechanically and electrically connects the reciprocating part and the base part can be more stably maintained by the sliding terminal, the guide terminal, and the elastic body. It is possible to further improve not only performance but also work efficiency according to inspection.

In addition, since the rail block of the movable connection part and the connection terminal assembly corresponding thereto can be connected in a one-to-one correspondence with a specific part of the main body as previously determined, signal transmission/reception between the movable connection part and the main body part can be performed more smoothly.

In addition, since the reference position of the reciprocating part can be checked at any time and accurately positioned at the reference position by the home sensor unit, the accuracy of the inspection of the object to be inspected and thus the inspection performance can be further improved.

1 is a partial perspective view showing a conventional multi-probe inspection machine.
2 is a perspective view of an auto probe device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of Figure 2 shown at a different angle from Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 3;
6 is an enlarged cross-sectional perspective view of part A of FIG. 3.
7 is an enlarged perspective view of part A of FIG. 3.

Hereinafter, an auto probe device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The auto probe device of the present invention is largely a base part 2, a reciprocating part 3, a movable connection part 4, an elevation part 5, a probe part 6, as shown by reference numeral 1 in FIG. And a body portion 7.

Here, first, the base portion 2 is a portion that forms the base of the auto probe device 1, and is preferably made of a metal material to have a predetermined strength as the base, and as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the display It is disposed in the longitudinal direction along at least one side of the inspection object P such as a panel, and preferably along at least three sides of the inspection object P above. However, in order to be disposed along the three sides of the object P having a rectangular shape as above, the base portion 2 must be bent twice at a right angle so as to have a U shape.

The reciprocating part 3 is a movable support part that supports the probe part 6 and the body part 7 to be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the base part 2 to be described later, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, It is installed so as to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction on the movable connection part 4 across the base part 2, and as shown in FIG. 3, the reciprocating base 11, the reciprocating means 13, and the connection extension plate ( 15).

Here, the reciprocating base 11 is a part that becomes the basis of the reciprocating part 3, and as shown in Figs. 3 to 5, the bar is formed of a bar-shaped frame disposed across the base part 2 , The slide block 22 attached to the bottom is slidably coupled to the guide rail 21 installed on the upper surface of the base 2 in the longitudinal direction, so that the reciprocating movement in the longitudinal direction is possible on the base 2 Installed.

In addition, the reciprocating means 13 is a driving source for moving the entire reciprocating unit 3 further than the reciprocating unit 11, as long as it can linearly reciprocate the reciprocating unit 11 in the longitudinal direction of the base unit 2 Any type can be used, and in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a rack 23, a pinion 24, and a drive motor 25 are provided. Among them, the rack 23 is mounted on the upper surface of the base portion 2 so as to extend long in the longitudinal direction of the base portion 2 parallel to the upper guide rail 21. In addition, the pinion 24 is meshed with the rack 23 so as to move along the tooth surface of the rack 23, and is coupled to the drive shaft of the drive motor 61, so that the drive motor 61 is operated when the drive motor 61 is operated. The reciprocating synchronous stand 11 is mounted reciprocating in the direction in which the pinion 24 moves.

In addition, the connection extension plate 15 is a rail block as shown in Figs. 3 to 5 so that the plurality of rail blocks 41 and the connection terminal bundle 43 of the movable connection unit 4 to be described later can be matched one-to-one. The bar extending across 41 may be divided into a base plate 27 on the lower side and a cover plate 28 on the upper side for convenient assembly of the connection terminal bundle 43. At this time, the cover plate 28 has one end, that is, the left end in the drawing, is coupled to one end of the reciprocating base 11, that is, the right end in the drawing, in a cantilever shape by bolting. In addition, the base plate 27 and the cover plate 28 are mutually coupled or separated by bolts or the like fastened to the bolt seat 29. Accordingly, the connection extension plate 15 is slidably mounted on the plurality of rail blocks 41, for example, each rail block 41 through a plurality of connection terminal bundles 43 to be described later as shown. It is combined to be able to slide along the line.

The movable connection part 4 is a part for electrically connected to the reciprocating part 3 supported by the external power supply of the device 1 and the control device C so as to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction on the base part 2, As shown in Figs. 2 to 5, it is installed on the connection extension plate 15 of the reciprocating part 3. Therefore, the movable connection part 4 is provided by the main body part 7 to be described later through the connection extension plate 15 of the reciprocating part 3 mounted to be movable in the longitudinal direction on the base part 2. It is possible to receive power required for driving the parts or to receive various control signals from the control device (C).

To this end, the movable connection part 4 can be manufactured in various forms, but it is preferable to include a plurality of rail blocks 41 and a plurality of connection terminal bundles 43. Here, the plurality of rail blocks 41 are arranged so as to extend side by side along the base portion 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 7 to form a double track, each applied from the control device C. A control signal is transmitted to the main body 7 or electricity supplied from the outside is transmitted to the main body 7. At this time, each rail block 41 is made of a metal such as chromium copper as a conductor, and is directly supplied with power or a control signal applied from the control device C or output from each component of the main body 7 Various signals such as a feedback signal are transmitted to the main body 7 or the control device C. In addition, the rail block 41 is, for example, as shown in Figs. 3 to 5, the connection groove 44 extending in the longitudinal direction is recessed into the upper surface, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, to be described later The sliding terminal 45 is inserted into the connection groove 44 so that it is guided stably so as to be able to slide.

In this way, the rail block 41 not only operates the parts by transferring the electric energy supplied from the power source to the body part 7 through the reciprocating part 3, but also each other applied from the control device C. Since different control signals are transmitted to the corresponding parts of the main body part 7, it is preferable to specialize the control signals so that each rail block 41 has different uses. However, each specialized control signal is transmitted by being divided into corresponding parts according to the rules already established in the corresponding rail block 41.

In addition, while the plurality of connection terminal bundles 43 are slidably coupled along each rail block 41, the control signal of the control device C applied to the rail block 41 and the electricity supplied from the power supply As a part that transmits or transmits to the main body 7, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a slide terminal 45, a guide terminal 47, and an elastic body 49 are included.

Here, first, the sliding terminal 45 may have two sizes according to the size of the rail block 41, and support the connection terminal bundle 43 so as to be slidably connected on the rail block 41. As a means, as shown in Figs. 5 to 7, it is in the form of a block that is slidably inserted into the connection groove 44 of the rail block 41. In addition, the slide terminal 45 is a conductor electrically connected to the rail block 41 and is made of a metal such as chrome copper, and the width of the lower half is reduced to the insertion protrusion 51 so as to be inserted into the connection groove 44. It has a T-shaped cross-sectional shape. Therefore, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the sliding terminal 45 has the head 52 forming the upper half inserted into the seating hole 53 of the base plate 27 to be worn, and the insertion protrusion ( 51) is inserted into the connection groove 44 of the rail block 41 through the mounting hole 53. In addition, the sliding terminal 45 has a connection port 55 for inserting and connecting a guide terminal 47 to be described later, and is formed concave in the center, and a mounting hole 56 for inserting an elastic body 49 to be described later. It is provided in plural.

On the other hand, the sliding terminal 45 is elastically pressed downward by an elastic body 49 to be described later, so that it continuously maintains contact with the connection groove 44 during sliding, and thus the control applied from the rail block 41 Signals and power are stably transmitted to the guide terminal 47 or, conversely, a feedback signal transmitted from the main body 7 through the guide terminal 47 is stably transmitted to the rail block 41.

In addition, the guide terminal 47 is a part that allows movement in the vertical direction while maintaining contact with the sliding terminal 45, and at the same time connecting the connection terminal bundle 43 to the main body 7 by wired or wirelessly. As shown in FIG. 7, the bar is manufactured in the form of a conductive rod, and the diameter of the lower part is reduced to form the shaft diameter portion 57. Accordingly, the guide terminal 47 is installed through the cover plate 28 so as to be exposed above the reciprocating portion 3, and the shaft diameter portion 57 at the lower end is fitted into the connection port 55 of the sliding terminal 45, While maintaining contact with the slide terminal 45, relative movement with respect to the slide terminal 45 in the vertical direction is possible. Accordingly, the guide terminal 47 transmits the control signal and power applied to the slide terminal 45 to the main body 7 through the wire 58 shown in FIG. 4, or, conversely, is generated in the main body 7 Various signals such as a feedback signal transmitted through the wire 59 are transmitted to the control device C through the sliding terminal 45.

Finally, the elastic body 49 is a means for pressing the upper sliding terminal 45 against the rail block 41 to make elastic contact, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, preferably a coil-type compression spring Is used. Therefore, the elastic body 49 passes through the seating hole 53 and is interposed between the upper surface of the sliding terminal 45 and the bottom surface of the cover plate 28, and two or more of the front and rear guide terminals 47 It is provided in plural.

The elevating part 5 is a means for moving the probe part 6 to be described later relative to the upper reciprocating part 3, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, at one end of the reciprocating part 3 It is configured to include a bar installed to be elevating, a drive motor 61, a transfer screw 63, and a lifting block 65.

Here, first, the driving motor 61 is a driving source of the lifting part 5, and as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a bar disposed on the upper part of the lifting part 5 through the cradle 67, a main body part to be described later The rotational force of the transfer screw 63 is generated by the power supplied from (7). In addition, the transfer screw 63 is a driving means for directly raising and lowering the probe 6, and is connected coaxially on the rotating shaft of the driving motor 61, as shown in the forward and reverse direction by the driving motor 61. The lifting block 65 is raised and lowered while rotating. Finally, the lifting block 65 is a conveying screw 63, that is, as a means for mediating the lifting part 5 and the probe part 6, as shown, the conveying screw 63 so as to elevate along the conveying screw 63. ), the probe 6 is mounted on the front side. Accordingly, the lifting block 65 converts the rotational force of the driving motor 61 into a vertical linear motion of the probe 6.

The probe unit 6 is a detection means for receiving a measurement signal from the inspection object P, as shown in Figs. 2 to 5, mounted at the lower end of the lifting unit 5, and a body unit 7 to be described later It is operated by the control signal transmitted or supplied from the power source and the power source, while the reciprocating unit 3 moves reciprocally to an appropriate position along one side of the inspection object P, and the inspection object P by the lifting unit 5 ), the measurement signal measured from the object P is transmitted to the control device C through the wire 69 or wirelessly while being contacted or separated from the top and bottom. At this time, the wire 69 is fixed on the case 71 of the main body 7 for convenience of storage, as shown in FIG. 5, taking into account the moving line of the main body 7 whose position is changed as it moves back and forth. Thus, it is preferable to have a margin in length by making the end portion leading to the control device C with the stretchable wrinkle portion 72.

The body part 7 controls the movement of the reciprocating part 3 and the lifting part 5 according to the command of the control device C, that is, controls the operation of the probe part 6, and supplies external power to the probe part 6 ), and is installed on the reciprocating part 3 so as to be adjacent to the lifting part 5, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. Therefore, the main body 7 reciprocates the reciprocating part 3 back and forth as mentioned above according to the control signal input through the movable connection part 4 from the control device C, while moving the lifting part 5 up and down. To move back and forth.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, a home sensor unit 8 is installed between the base portion 2 and the reciprocating portion 3. The home sensor unit 8 is a sensor bracket 33 attached to the upper surface of the base 2 through a bracket rail 31 extending in the longitudinal direction of the base 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 And, a bar consisting of a home sensor 35 mounted on the bottom of the reciprocating part 3 to face adjacent to the sensor bracket 33, a movable connection part 4 mounted on one reciprocating part 3, and an elevating part (5), when the probe part 6 and the body part 7 are referred to as a group of test modules, the test modules exist in plural on the base part 2, so that each test module, that is, the main body part 7 When each of the home sensors 35 detects the corresponding sensor bracket 33, the position is recognized as the origin of the reciprocating movement, and is used as a reference for the reciprocating movement of the reciprocating unit 3.

Now, the operation of the auto probe device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described as follows.

According to the auto-probe device of the present invention, as shown by the hidden line in FIG. 2, when the object P is adjacent to the base part 2, the body part 7 is controlled transmitted from the external control device C. The reciprocating part 3 is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the base part 2 according to the signal. At this time, the control signal of the control device C is transmitted to each rail block 41 through an electric wire 58, as shown in FIG. 4, and then the connection terminal connected while reciprocating along the rail block 41 It is delivered to the bundle 43. The control signal transmitted to the connection terminal assembly 43 is a sliding terminal 45 coupled to the connection groove 44 and a guide terminal 47 fitted in the sliding terminal 45, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 Through the, it is transmitted to the main body 7 through the electric wire 59 shown in FIG. 6. However, when each rail block 41 is matched one-to-one with the inspection module, the control signal may be transmitted only to the corresponding inspection module. For example, when a module ID signal of a test module to be operated is input, only the module having the corresponding ID can receive the signal and operate.

Then, the main body 7 drives the drive motor 61 in the forward and reverse direction, and transfers the reciprocating part 3 to the base part 2 through a reciprocating means 13 such as a rack 23 and a pinion 24. Move it back and forth along the length direction and place it at the target point. Then, the main body 7 drives the driving motor 61 in the forward and reverse direction, and raises and lowers the lifting block 65 by the transfer screw 63, so that the probe 6 can inspect the object to be inspected. It should be located at a height.

Thereafter, when the probe unit 6 comes into contact with the inspection object to inspect the inspection object, the measurement signal measured by the probe unit 6 according to the inspection passes through the sub-PCB 73 through the wire 69 shown in FIG. Then, it is transmitted to the control device C or wirelessly transmitted to the control device C, and used as an inspection result, thereby completing a series of inspection tasks for the inspection object.

1: auto probe device 2: base
3: reciprocating part 4: movable connection part
5: elevating part 6: probe part
7: main body 8: home sensor unit
11: reciprocating unit 13: reciprocating unit
15: connection extension plate 21: guide rail
22: slide block 23: rack
24: pinion 27: base plate
28: cover plate 31: bracket rail
33: sensor bracket 35: home sensor
41: rail block 43: connection terminal bundle
44: connection groove 45: slide terminal
47: guide terminal 49: elastic body
51: insertion protrusion 53: mounting hole
57: shaft diameter 58, 59, 69: electric wire
61: drive motor 63: transfer screw
65: lifting block C: control device
P: Object to be inspected

Claims (2)

delete A base portion (2) disposed in a longitudinal direction along at least one side of the object to be inspected;
A reciprocating part 3 installed on the base part 2 to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction;
A movable connection part (4) installed on the reciprocating part (3) so that the reciprocating part (3) is movable on the base part (2) and electrically connected to an external power supply and control device (C) ;
An elevating part 5 installed to be movable up and down at the front end of the reciprocating part 3;
A probe part 6 mounted on one side of the lifting part 5 to inspect the test object and transmit a measurement signal measured by the test to a control device; And
A body part installed on the reciprocating part 3 and controlling movement of the reciprocating part 3 and the lifting part 5 according to a control signal input from the control device through the movable connection part 4 ( 7); including,
The movable connection part 4 transmits the control signal applied from the control device to the main body part 7 through a rail block 41 and a connection terminal assembly 43 slidably coupled to the rail block 41. Auto probe device, characterized in that to be transmitted to).

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